They ran through the door of the diner, Teresa taking up the rear. As they exited, she noticed two patrons getting up and heading towards their position, and a sudden fear squeezed her stomach. She breathed deeply and just held herself back from pushing her companions out the door.
They piled out onto the sidewalk.
"OK, let's slow down," Cathy ordered, "and walk. We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves."
John snorted, but "too late" was all that he said. The little group slowed and tried to stroll while Sissy's shoes kept flashing their red alarm.
Cathy shot him a glance. "Sissy, walk around a bit and see if the shoes can tell us which direction we need to go." Sissy complied nervously, as the rest split their attention between her attention-grabbing shoes and the curious passersby.
"Uh, Cathy?" Teresa interrupted.
Cathy didn't even turn around. "Hold on, Teresa," she snapped. "Sissy, anything?"
Sissy squinted against the early sunlight's glare for any change in the pulsation of her shoes. "Yeah, I think ... this way ..." and she turned to face the street.
Behind her, Cathy heard the sound of a phasor blast. Then another. As she whirled around, she saw two bodies crumple to the pavement, and Teresa with her phasor in her hand.
"What the..."
"Holding on wasn't an option," Teresa explained. "These guys meant business, see?" She pointed. Two strange looking weapons lay beside the bodies. People on the sidewalk were backing away from the guns and the bodies now. It wouldn't be long before the local law enforcement showed up.
"All right, cover's blown," Cathy said urgently, "let's get moving. Sissy, which way?"
Sissy pointed and they all headed across the street. Greyhawk noticed a ragged street preacher suddenly stop haranguing the morning sleepwalkers, step off his makeshift podium and head their way, and the Engineer pulled his phasor to cover the suspicious advance. In front of him, John spied a bum, apparently sleeping moments before, rousing himself. The man stood upright and pointed at them. John swung his shotgun up from its hiding place inside his coat.
"Incoming," he whooped, then fired, blowing the man off his feet and back into the gutter he'd stood up from. "Whatta sweet kick!" he grinned, pumping another shell into the chamber.
The party rushed past him and he hustled to get back on point. Greyhawk yelled to Teresa, "At least three behind ye, lass!"
"I got 'em," Teresa shouted back. She was nearly running backwards, with her phasor set to kill. She fired twice, two dropped, and the third took cover. "Clear back here for now!"
"Two more in front," Cathy yelled, "keep Sissy in the middle." John pumped his gun and Greyhawk fired his phasor. One went down and the other exploded. They ran through his dissolving cloud.
Now the sounds of sirens mixed with the sounds of the street.
"Uh oh," Sissy panted. "I'll bet those sirens toll for us." She was very pale except for bright red spots on her cheeks. Cathy wondered how long she was going to be able to run like this.
No doubt," Cathy replied, "so how we doing, we close?"
Sissy gasped back, "Hard to tell, but these shoes are pulsing brighter and faster, so we must be doing something right!"
"Yeah," Teresa advised, "and that light is attracting the moths. There are about ten coming up behind us!"
They ran, Sissy clutching Cathy's arm now and clenching her teeth hard. Bystanders stood and watched. The sirens got louder, and more and more people were peeling off from the surrounding areas and heading their way.
Then in front of a doorway, Sissy looked down, and her shoes were bright red and no longer flashing. She stopped abruptly, tumbling everyone to a halt. Turning, she threw open the door. She could see nothing but darkness inside, but it felt okay, as far as she could tell. Besides, what else was left to do?
"In here ... I think," she said breathlessly.
Crowds were converging on their position and John, Teresa, Cathy, and Greyhawk were firing furiously to keep them at bay, backing towards Sissy and the dark door. A police car pulled around the corner, then another, and another.
Sissy ducked through the doorway, bullets and laser blasts flying all around.
"Greyhawk, John, go with her," Cathy commanded. The men disappeared into the dark, and it was only Cathy and Teresa left to defend their rear.
"Cathy, you get in there with them, I’ll cover you, and hold them off for a minute or two to give you guys some time. Then I'll follow," Teresa rapped out.
Cathy hesitated for a moment. She took out a guy who looked to be a priest of some kind, only he had a very big gun. Then she made up her mind.
"OK, but follow right behind me," she insisted to Teresa.
"You bet your ass I will!" Teresa's grin blazed evilly as she wheeled away from the door.
Cathy turned once more and saw Teresa pick up a second weapon from a dead construction worker at her feet and start firing two handed. Her head was framed in smoke and haze, hair flying, and both guns blazing. Then the door closed behind Cathy and she took off down a long, dark hallway.
No one was in sight.
(to be continued ...
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